A Very Fine Beach Trip
by DarkV
Summary: Ash and his friends stumble upon an idealistically sunny beach. Reality soon comes crashing down.


**A Very Fine Beach Trip**

The light came down and illuminated the sands like a spotlight, as if to present a great work of art to the world. Instead, it was only an average beach, already beginning to fill up with people during the increasing heat of midmorning. The scene was soon happened upon by a small group of travellers who were just emerging from the adjacent hillside wilderness. There were three of them: a young boy with unkempt black hair covered by a red cap, and with a small yellow creature on top of that; a young redheaded girl holding an egg-shaped creature, and with a red bag slung over her shoulder; and a taller, older boy with short, spiky hair and squinted eyes. They were, of course, the group of aspiring pokemon professionals, Ash, Misty, and Brock.   
  
All three were looking rather worn out, Misty even moreso. Yet she perked up at the sight before her. As a water pokemon trainer, she loved just about anything associated with water. The beach that stretched across her entire field of vision, with the expanse of ocean beyond, revitalized her as much as would a night spent in a comfortable bed instead of on hard ground.   
  
"Alright! The beach!" she cried, picking up her pace and hurrying down to the sand.   
  
Ash and Brock, while not so ecstatic, were likewise excited by the change of scenery, as well as by the prospect of a day off from hiking in the woods. They looked at each other briefly, nodded, and with a whoop of joy rushed down the slope after Misty. They caught up with her before long, as she had stopped to take a towel from her bag and spread it out on the sand. The three began rustling through their belongings to find the appropriate beach attire.   
  
"I think there are some bathrooms over there," Brock said, pointing. "Let's go get changed!"   
  
"Yeah!" the other two chimed in.   
  
So they did, and in a few minutes they were all lying in a row on the beach, enjoying the sun.   
  
"Ahh, this is nice," Ash sighed. "Right Pikachu?"   
  
"Pika!" the small, yellow moue creature replied, curled up beside the trainer.   
  
"Yeah, no getting lost in the woods," Misty said with a brief but deliberate glance at the boy, who in response briefly glared back.   
  
"And no Team Rocket!" Brock concluded, and the four all sighed in relief together.   
  
"Hey, that reminds me. Maybe we should let our pokemon out to play," Misty suggested. Ash and Brock agreed, and were about to reach for their pokeballs when they suddenly took a look around them. They were positively surrounded by people. Ash scratched at the back of his head.   
  
"I guess this is a pretty popular beach." He laughed half-heartedly.   
  
"It sure filled up fast," Misty said with just a hint of melancholy.   
  
Brock nodded. "There's no room here. We'll have to let our pokemon out some other time."   
  
Misty stood up and stretched, while taking another look around her. "This place is too crowded and noisy for me. I'm going to go for a nice--" She stopped as she looked out towards the sea of bodies and faces. Now it was her turn to scratch at the back of her head. "Well, I'll just go find a quieter place to swim." She picked up the egg shaped pokemon at her feet and held it out in front of her. "Now you stay here and play with Pikachu, alright Togepi?" The creature squealed in response. She hugged it, and set it down next to the other lazing pokemon.   
  
"Have fun. See you later Misty," the boys replied. Then she sauntered off among the sun umbrellas and sand pails, her familiar red swimsuit soon lost among many others. Occasionally she would see people of different ages playing with their pokemon; a goldeen here, a staryu there, and even a golduck. She smiled at this last one, then grimaced as she thought of her own psyduck. She wondered with a little frustration if it would ever evolve into something useful. But then, it had come through for her before. Besides, she was to become the world's greatest water pokemon master. She grinned at this. Of _course_ it would evolve someday, or she could even be lucky enough to capture one herself. She would train as many different water pokemon as she could; maybe even all of them.   
  
By this time she had come to the edge of where most of the people were congregated. Here there were but a few people scattered across the sand, and even fewer in the water. Only the lifeguard tower drew any attention. It was just the kind of peace she needed to relax, and so she waded into the waves and looked out. There was some kind of wooden structure not too far away, and it looked as good a place to go as any, so she began swimming out towards it. About halfway there she stopped and floated on her back. She closed her eyes against the glaring sun, and just enjoyed the feeling of drifting.   
  
As she drifted, so did her thoughts. Maybe she _would_ try to evolve her psyduck. She would just have to train it herself until it could perform on its own in a battle. After all, it shouldn't be too much of a problem for a future water pokemon master. She grinned at the thought, and began daydreaming about such a future of glory. She would ascend the podium before a cheering crowd, and with her golduck by her side she would deliver a beautiful speech about the wonder of water pokemon.   
  
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as something brushed up against her arm. Startled, Misty twisted away and splashed about for a moment before regaining composure. It took her a moment to see what had touched her. It was a tentacool, floating serenely along on the waves just as she had been. Its coloring rendered it almost invisible in the water, save for the telltale red spots on the top of its head. She laughed shakily and pressed her hand to her chest, as if to calm her quickened heart.   
  
"Hiya," she said with a smile to the creature.   
  
"Tentacool," it replied. Lacking a traditional mouth, it seemed to smile back with its eyes. It raised a tentacle, which Misty shook as she would a human hand, as best as she could.   
  
"You're a friendly little guy, aren't you?" she chuckled.   
  
"Tentacooool," another, more human voice cried. It came from a young boy who was approaching. "Hi," he said to Misty as he arrived. "This is my tentacool. Sorry if he bothered you."   
  
"Oh, no, that's alright. He's a very polite pokemon," Misty responded.   
  
"Thanks! Well, I have to go, but thanks for finding him. Come on, Tentacool."   
  
Then the two left, as quickly as they had come. Thoroughly distracted from her daydreaming, Misty continued on to the wooden structure with a sigh. It resembled a pier, but was nowhere near the shore, and was much lower, low enough to climb on top of. Misty proceeded to do just that, and there she rested for a few moments on her back, with her feet dangling in the water. Her eyes drifted halfway closed while she rested, yet before long she again felt something brush against her; her feet this time. Sure enough, a familiar blue creature with red spots floated out from under the structure. She gave it a few friendly pats with her foot. "What are you doing back here, huh?" she said sweetly.   
  
The creature spun around and glared at her. She could see that this was not that tentacool. It was much larger, and its eyes had not a hint of a smile.   
  
"Tentacruel," the creature growled, angered by being patted.   
  
"WAH!" Misty cried. She instinctively reached for her pokeballs, but she didn't have her bag. The tentacruel raised a tentacle, and with a snap whipped it around Misty's legs. Its grip burned her flesh as the tentacle secreted its venom. She gasped with pain, and was promptly jerked off of the structure.   
  
Underwater, Misty was disoriented. The sun glared on the surface, nearly blinding her, and her eyes stung from the salt water. She tried to swim up despite her disorientation, but she realized that a tentacle was still wrapped around her legs. She flailed her arms uselessly to pull herself back up, but the tentacruel held her tightly. Terror suddenly pierced her heart, and she could feel it coming up into her throat. From somewhere in the recesses of her mind came the thought that tentacruel have eighty tentacles. Yet still she frantically wriggled to try to free her legs. Just as she felt the grip loosen, two more tentacles slid around her chest, and two more around her waist, and yet more around her wrists and ankles. She was hopelessly tangled, and the tentacruel's poison was rapidly entering her system. She began to feel light-headed and nauseous, which was only compounded by holding her increasingly stale breath.   
  
Her mind was in chaos. How could this be happening to Mighty Misty, future water pokemon master? What would become of Togepi? What about the Cerulean Gym? Her sisters? Brock? What about Ash? It wasn't supposed to end this way, not after all she had survived in her travels. The water was supposed to be her _friend_. She didn't _want_ to drown. If she only had her pokemon, things would be alright, but now she only wanted to cry. Her hands flew to her mouth, that she might keep the water out for just a little while longer, but the tentacles tightened, pulling her hands away and digging deeper into her skin. She cried out, and her screams were reduced to a muffled cloud of bubbles.   
  
When human hands began tugging at her arms, she was only dimly aware of it. Nor was she particularly aware of a poison sting attack ordered on the tentacruel. For all her spirit, Misty was still a young girl up against a wild pokemon, without her own pokemon to protect her. Unable to struggle anymore, against her bonds or her own body's reflexes, she took a breath of the warm water. It was immediately coughed out along with another cloud of bubbles, only to be replaced by more water. She flailed helpessly once more against her bonds, eyes wide with fear, trying to claw her way back to the shining surface above, but to no effect. Her final moments were a mindless fury of gagging, choking, and convulsing. A certain tentacool managed to defeat its larger counterpart, and the tentacles loosened, but Misty only began sinking into the ocean.   
  
One hundred yards away, two boys who had been lightly dozing were brought to attention by some kind of commotion. There had been a pokemon attack, someone said. "Far side of the beach...tentacruel...poor girl drowned." Ash looked at Brock with a shocked expression, while the older boy only stood somberly.   
  
This was something new, something different. Something had gone awry in Ash's world of gym badges and tournaments. The two boys trudged off towards the scene, to see who it was, and to look on the face of death; for once, too late to save the day with their values and youthful spirit. 


End file.
